Chapter 3: The Money Wasn't the Only Secret
“Give me that paper.””
Tasha lunged toward Robert.
He pulled it away before she could grab it.
“Don't touch me,” he said.
“It's private!””
“Not when it involves money meant for my grandson.””
Marcus's voice came through the phone.
“Dad, read me the name.””
Robert examined the slip again.
“Darren Cole.””
Tasha's face lost its color.
Marcus went silent.
Then he asked, “Who is Darren Cole?””
Tasha shook her head quickly.
“It doesn't mean anything.””
Robert looked at her.
“Then why are you afraid of the name?””
“I'm not afraid!””
“Your hands are shaking.””
Tasha glanced down.
She was gripping the edge of the coffee table so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
Jordan and Ava watched from the sofa.
Isaiah stood behind his grandfather.
Robert placed the receipt and the withdrawal slip together.
“Marcus, does that name mean anything to you?””
“No,” Marcus replied.
“It doesn't.””
Tasha stepped forward.
“Because it's a mistake. That's all.””
“A mistake involving three hundred dollars?”” Robert asked.
“It's a bank processing error.””
Robert raised an eyebrow.
“Banks don't accidentally write someone's name on a cash withdrawal receipt.””
“Robert, you don't understand.””
“Then explain it.””
She opened her mouth.
But before she could speak, the phone vibrated against the coffee table.
Marcus was calling again.
Robert answered the new call and switched it to speakerphone.
“Son?””
“Dad, I'm leaving work now. I'll be there in about forty minutes.””
Tasha shook her head.
“Marcus, please. We can discuss this privately.””
“Why privately?””
“Because your father is making everything worse.””
Marcus's response was immediate.
“No. My father is asking questions I should have asked weeks ago.””
Tasha pressed her lips together.
Robert glanced at Isaiah.
“Come with me, buddy.””
He guided the boy toward the dining table.
There was no reason for him to hear the rest of the argument.
But Isaiah didn't move far.
He stayed close enough to hear his name.
Robert placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Do you want some water?””
Isaiah nodded.
Robert poured a glass from the kitchen pitcher.
The boy drank slowly.
Then he asked something that made Robert's chest tighten.
“Grandpa, did I do something bad?””
Robert crouched.
“No, son. Why would you think that?””
“Because Mommy doesn't like buying things for me.””
Robert put the glass down.
“Listen to me carefully. You did absolutely nothing wrong.””
Isaiah looked at his grandfather.
“Maybe I'm too expensive.””
Robert stared at him.
“What?””
Isaiah shrugged.
“Maybe Dad doesn't send enough money.””
Robert felt something twist inside his chest.
He sat beside the boy.
“Your father sends money because he loves you. And you don't have to earn the right to be treated fairly.””
Isaiah nodded, but his expression didn't change.
Robert knew the words weren't enough.
Children didn't always understand that adults could be unfair for reasons that had nothing to do with them.
Sometimes, they believed the unfairness was proof that something was wrong with them.
Robert looked toward the living room.
Tasha was pacing now.
Her phone was pressed to her ear.
“I'm telling you, don't come over,” she whispered.
Robert couldn't hear the person on the other end.
But he noticed the way Tasha kept glancing toward the dining room.
Then she ended the call.
When she turned around, Robert was standing in the doorway.
“Who were you talking to?””
“Nobody.””
“Darren?””
She frowned.
“Why are you obsessed with that name?””
“Because three hundred dollars disappeared.””
Tasha walked past him.
“I'm not discussing this anymore.””
Robert followed her into the living room.
“Neither am I leaving until you explain.””
She picked up the pink shopping bag and began stuffing loose items inside.
Jordan watched her.
“Mommy, are we going somewhere?””
“Not now, Jordan.””
“Can I take my backpack?””
“Just leave it!””
Jordan jumped.
Ava started crying.
Isaiah looked toward the floor.
Robert moved closer.
“Tasha, stop taking your frustration out on the children.””
She turned sharply.
“You have no idea what I've sacrificed for this family!””
Robert's expression hardened.
“Then tell us what you sacrificed. Because I see two happy girls with five hundred dollars' worth of things, and one little boy afraid to ask for a pencil.””
Tasha's eyes filled with angry tears.
“You think I'm some kind of monster.””
“I think you made a choice.””
“And what if I did?””
The room went quiet.
Robert looked at her.
“Then you should be prepared to explain it to Marcus.””
Tasha laughed once.
“Fine. You want the truth?””
She walked toward the coffee table and dropped the shopping bag.
“I spent the money because Jordan and Ava needed those things. Their father hasn't contributed a single dollar in months. I have to do everything myself.””
Robert stared at her.
“That's not Marcus's responsibility.””
“He married me!””
“And he agreed to care for his family. Not fund every expense involving another man.””
Tasha's expression changed.
“Don't talk about Darren.””
“Then stop bringing his name into the money.””
For the first time, Jordan spoke up.
“Mommy, who's Darren?””
Tasha turned toward her daughter.
“Nobody you need to worry about.””
Robert glanced at the girls.
Then he noticed something unusual.
Ava was holding a small pink envelope.
It had fallen out of one of the shopping bags.
“What's that?”” Robert asked.
Ava looked down.
“Mommy told me not to open it.””
Tasha immediately rushed toward her.
“Ava, give me that!””
The little girl pulled the envelope against her chest.
“But Mommy, you said it was for Uncle Darren.””
Robert stopped moving.
“Uncle Darren?””
Tasha closed her eyes.
“That's enough, Ava.””
The girl looked confused.
“He's coming to the house later, isn't he?””
Robert's stomach tightened.
He slowly turned toward Tasha.
“Why is Darren coming here?””
Tasha said nothing.
Robert took one step closer.
“Does he have something to do with the three hundred dollars?””
“Stop interrogating me!””
“Then answer the question!””
Tasha grabbed the envelope from Ava.
But before she could put it away, the paper slipped from her fingers.
A small printed card fell onto the carpet.
Robert picked it up.
It was a payment confirmation.
Three hundred dollars.
Paid in advance.
And beneath the amount was a description.
*Private school registration deposit.*
Robert read it twice.
Then he looked at Tasha.
“You used the money Marcus sent for Isaiah's school supplies to pay for someone else's child's school registration?””
Tasha's eyes filled with tears.
“It's not what you think.””
Robert stared at the card.
“Whose child?””
She didn't answer.
He looked toward Jordan and Ava.
Neither girl spoke.
Then Robert noticed a second name printed beneath Darren Cole's.
A child's name.
One that made his face change.
He looked at Tasha.
“Why is your son's name on this registration?””
Tasha went pale.
And from the phone on the table, Marcus suddenly spoke.
“Dad, what did you just say?””
Robert looked down at the payment confirmation.
He had known Tasha for six years.
He knew her daughters.
He knew her parents.
But there was something he had never known.
Tasha had a son.
A son whose existence Marcus had never mentioned.
And apparently, some of the money he had sent for Isaiah had gone toward that boy's education.
Marcus's voice came through again, louder this time.
“Tasha, what child is my father talking about?””
Tasha stared at the phone.
Then she whispered four words.
“His name is Darren.””
Robert frowned.
“No. Darren is the father. I'm asking about the child.””
Tasha's hands began to shake.
Before she could answer, the front doorbell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Jordan looked toward the entrance.
“Mommy, is that Uncle Darren?””
Tasha didn't move.
Robert walked toward the door.
And as his hand reached for the handle, Marcus spoke through the phone in a voice nobody in the room had ever heard before.
“Dad, don't open that door until I get there.””
But Robert was already turning the handle.
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And the man standing outside was holding a second envelope.
An envelope with Isaiah's father's name written across it.
